7 – Wins needed by Kasper to break the Duke single-season wins mark held by John Barone

19 – Of Kasper’s 30 wins that have come by major decision, technical fall or pin this season

24 – Duke’s team ranking in the Feb. 6 InterMat poll

2 – Where Jacob Kasper will rank in career victories at his current pace

How to Follow the Action

The rivalry match will take place at Memorial Hall on North Carolina’s campus Wednesday. It’s marketed as the Brawl at the Hall. Tickets are $10 for adults and $5 for youth. For those not able to attend, the dual will be broadcast on ACC Network Extra and can be seen on the WatchESPN platform. Live updates from matside also will be on Twitter. Links available at GoDuke.com.

Series History

North Carolina has dominated the series overall, sporting a 67-25 lead in the series and a 9-1 mark in the past 10 duals. Duke last defeated North Carolina in 2016, a 21-17 victory in Chapel Hill.

This is the fourth Valentine’s Day meeting between the rivals with the most recent being in 1995 in Chapel Hill.

Looking at Duke

The Blue Devils are coming off of a tough loss to Pittsburgh after winning three straight. Duke is 6-6 overall on the year and 1-3 against ACC foes.

Duke features four true freshmen in its lineup and just two seniors in Thayer Atkins and Jacob Kasper at 125 and HWT, respectively. Kasper is tops on the team with 30 wins and a No. 3 national ranking, while Mitch Finesilver has 24. Rookie Matt Finesilver is on a nine-match win streak, while Alec Schenk is having a solid season up at 197 with 17 wins.

There are a lot of new faces and movement in the Duke lineup this season. Both Atkins and Kasper stayed put at their weights, while the remaining eight starters are competing at new weights.

Mitch returned to the lineup at 157 after a redshirt season, while Zach bumped up to 165 from 141 a year ago. Schenk made the move to 197 from 184, while Leynaud is up to 149 from being a starter at 133 as a true freshman in 2015-16.

Last Time We Met

North Carolina picked up a pair of falls and won six matches overall to score a 25-15 victory in 2017. Jacob Kasper was the highlight as he continued his 20-match win streak with a 3-1 decision over Cory Daniel.

Jacob Kasper picked up his 30th win of the season and the 99th of his career as the Blue Devils fell to Pittsburgh, 23-10, this past Sunday in Cameron.

Matt Finesilver garnered his ninth straight win and remained undefeated in league action with a major decision, while Mitch Finesilver also won. The loss by the Blue Devils stopped their three-match win streak.

Scouting the Tar Heels

North Carolina enters the midweek dual ranked 24th nationally and sporting an 8-10 overall record and 2-2 mark in ACC competition.

Seven of the Tar Heels’ 10 starters are ranked in the top 20 with 149-pounder Troy Heilman leading the way at No. 9. Heilman is 25-4 overall and 3-1 in ACC competition. He has won six of his past seven matches with the lone loss coming in overtime to Virginia Tech’s Ryan Blees.

At heavyweight Cory Daniel is ranked 17th and sports a 21-6 record and is unbeaten against league foes. A.C. Headlee (141) is 19th, Kennedy Monday (157) is 16th, Chip Ness (184) comes in at No. 17 and Danny Chaid (197) is listed 15th. Nine of the 10 starters have double digit wins.

In Common

Duke and North Carolina share three common non-conference opponents and have wrestled all four of the other ACC foes this season. Duke is 2-5, while UNC is 4-3.

Opponent

Duke

UNC

Appalachian State

W, 25-17

W, 30-6

American

L, 7-34

L, 13-18

Army

L, 20-23

W, 28-12

Virginia

W, 19-16

W, 24-15

Pittsburgh

L, 10-23

W, 26-10

Virginia Tech

L, 19-24

L, 9-21

NC State

L, 6-35

L, 7-26

In tournament action, both squads competed at the Cliff Keen Invite in Las Vegas. Duke was without the services of Mitch and Zach Finesilver at the event.

True freshman Matt Finesilver heads into Wednesday’s dual on a nine-match win streak. During this stretch, he made his debut in the InterMat rankings, upset No. 20 Daniel Bullard of NC State and No. 18 Forrest Przybysz of Appalachian State, and most recently jumped to 18th in the InterMat rankings. Matt, wrestling at 174 pounds, is 22-6 overall on the year and 2-4 against top 20 foes after his upset over Przybysz.

Redshirt senior heavyweight Jacob Kasper is hunting his 100th career victory Wednesday night. He captured his 99th this past weekend and will be just the fourth Blue Devil to reach the century mark.

John Barone holds the record with 112. Kasper has two regular-season bouts remaining and the ACC and NCAA Championships. He has the potential to finish second all-time at Duke in victories at his current pace of winning.

Matchups to Watch

The heavyweight match between No. 4 Jacob Kasper and No. 17 Cory Daniel will be on everyone’s radar Wednesday. Other bouts to keep your eyes on will be at 157 between No. 11 Mitch Finesilver and No. 16 Kennedy Monday as well as the 174-pound match featuring No. 18 Matt Finesilver versus No. 16 Ethan Ramos.

The lone rematch, albeit a big one, is at heavyweight between Duke’s Jacob Kasper and Cory Daniel of UNC. Kasper edged the Tar Heel in a 3-1 decision. Kasper needed a takedown in the late part of the third period for the win.

Duke in the Intermat Rankings

The Blue Devils made a major move this week to 20th in the team rankings. It is the highest ranking in the history of Duke wrestling. Duke had been ranked as high as 23rd. Kasper is third at heavyweight, Mitch 10th at 157 and Matt at 18th at 184 according to InterMat.

Up Next

Duke will honor its three seniors Saturday when it welcomes Old Dominion to Cameron. The match is slated for a 2 p.m., start on ACC Network Extra.